Indie Filmmaker

AVAILABLE HERE IN 2009! 3 Years in the making Javan J. Cornelius, director of Taxi, studied documentary filmmaking under Director T.N. Mohan at Oakwood University. Cornelius’ aspirations to be a filmmaker started in high school. Then in 2005, Cornelius traveled to England and had his first real-world filmmaking experience on the film, A Heart Set Free. After returning from England, he was determined to write and direct his own films. Subsequently, Cornelius produced an educational film for the National Black Programming Consortium entitled, The Birth of an Institution. Cornelius is currently finishing a film he started in 2006 entitled, Chocolate City: The Documentary, which examines the significance of an historically Black college education through stories from students. Cornelius is also finishing a book entitled, Beating the Odds, which documents his dream to pursue a college education with limited finances while chasing the dream of producing an independent film. One of Cornelius’ goals in film is to eventually crossover to feature filmmaking and feature stories that evoke exploration beyond the stereotypical minority experience.